Letter from the Board of Trade of Great Britain to George II, King of Great Britain

Great Britain. Board of Trade

June 16,
1747

Volume 04, Page 847

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[B. P. R. O. North Carolina. B. T. Vol. 21. P. 303.]

To the King's most Excellent Majesty

May it please Your Majesty

A Memorial having been presented unto us by several British Merchants in behalf of themselves and of many others trading to and having large debts due in Your Majesty's Province of North Carolina & Virginia setting forth the injustice & illegality of an Act of Assembly lately brought to light and set up as passed under the late Proprietors of North Carolina in the latter end of the year 1715 or beginning of 1716 entituled an Act concerning Attorneys from Foreign parts and for giving priority to Country debts whereby besides other unreasonable clauses it is most expressly pretended to be enacted that no Foreign debt of any kind whatsoever (not even to the Crown) shall have any execution for the recovery thereof until all debts to the inhabitants of that Colony which were sued for at the time the British Creditor sued shall be paid nor yet until after some indefinite time which is to be at least six months to be appointed by the Courts there shall be given for all pretended Country debts to come in and claim the reality of which Country debts the British Creditor has no possibility of knowing And therefore praying that We would represent the said Act to your Majesty as very proper for Your Majesty's Declaration of the same to be null and void

And the said Act appearing to us to have been continued in use and submitted to in the said Province from the time of the passing thereof We referred the same to Your Maj. Attorney & Solicitor General for their opinion with respect to the validity of the said Act and whether the same was or was not repealed by Your Majesty who have reported to us “That such part of it as postpones the execution on judgments for Foreign debts in the manner therein provided is contrary to reason inconsistent with the laws & greatly prejudicial to the inhabitants and therefore not warranted by the Charter and consequently and were of opinion “Your Majesty might declare the same to be so and your Royal disallowance thereof” Whereupon We humbly take leave to lay the said Act before Your Majesty for your Royal disapprobation thereof. Which is most humbly submitted.